Taliban involved in South Korean kidnappings killed: police
Posted: 18 September 2007 1800 hrs

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GHAZNI, Afghanistan: International and Afghan forces killed a dozen Taliban overnight including a commander involved in the July kidnapping of 23 South Koreans, a provincial police chief said on Tuesday.

The US-led coalition confirmed the operation in the central province of Ghazni had killed "several" militants but did not say if the commander, Abdullah Jan, was among the dead.

The interior ministry in Kabul could also not immediately confirm Abdullah Jan was dead.

The commander regularly spoke to the media during the kidnapping saga in which two of the hostages were killed before the remainder were freed last month.

International war planes bombed a house in Ghazni's Giro district in the raid that killed the 12, including Abdullah Jan, provincial police chief Alishah Ahmadzai told AFP.

Another Taliban district commander was among the dead, he said.

The coalition said in a statement that "several suspected militants" were killed and four detained in the operation.

Troops had gone to the compound because they suspected it was "providing sanctuary to anti-coalition militants," it said in a statement.

"Several confirmed enemy fighters posed a threat to the forces during the course of operation and were shot and killed," it said. Bombs were also used to destroy a building.

Another of the commanders involved in the kidnapping was killed early this month, days after the last of the South Korean aid workers were freed after controversial talks between the Taliban and the South Korean government.

Afghan and US-led troops raided Abdullah Jan's hideout on Friday, killing six militants although the commander himself got away.

Abdullah Jan was a Taliban commander for the Qarabagh district, the area where the South Korean aid workers were abducted on July 19.


- AFP/so